Comedy

Television critic David Bianculli checks out Comedy Central. It's the new cable comedy network formed by the merger of "The Comedy Channel," and the "HA! Comedy Network." David's favorites are "Mystery Science Theater 3000," which lampoons old B-movies, and the rebroadcasts of Ernie Kovacs specials.

Spacey is best known for his role as Mel Proffitt in the TV series "Wiseguy." He's currently starring in a new American Playhouse film "Darrow," on the life of the famous lawyer Clarence Darrow, and plays the role of evangelist Jim Bakker in the NBC movie "Fall From Grace."

Heimel writes about the perils of being a single woman in the 90s for both The Village Voice and Playboy. There's a new collection of her columns out, titled "If You Can't Live Without Me, Why Aren't You Dead Yet?"

Brown delivers what he calls "The Big Picture," a tongue-in-cheek political commentary on Saturday Night Live. He's just collected those commentaries in a new book, also caled "The Big Picture."

Grier is a regular cast member of the popular sketch comedy show, which has been hailed as a black alternative to Saturday Night Live.

Terry talks with humorist Calvin Trillin and cartoonist Edward Koren from the The New Yorker about the magazine's impending move. The magazine has been at its present location for almost 60 years. Some of the original office's furnishings are going to the Smithsonian.

Terry interview stand-up comedian Jimmy Tingle. Tingle's forte is political humor. He talks about keeping his comedy relevant but respectful to all involved in the Gulf War.

Thomas died last night. We have a recent interview with him; Terry asks him about his career and his distinctive nose, which, despite constant pressure, he refused to have surgery on.

Comic strip artist Bill Griffith talks about the impact of the war on his daily strip, Zippy. Griffith is surprised that other comics like Beetle Bailey haven't also addressed the conflict.

Political cartoonist Mark Alan Stamaty writes the comic strip "Washingtoon," which lampoons the news of the day. Stamaty joins Fresh Air to share his perspective on the events of the past year.

Cerf writes children's songs for Sesame Street and helped launch the humor magazine the National Lampoon. In 1978 he co-edited the journalistic parody "Not the New York Times." His most recent humor book is "The Book of Sequels," a spoof of current trends in the publishing and film industries.

Mark McKinney and Scott Thompson are cast members in the Canadian sketch comedy show, The Kids In The Hall. It's is produced by Lorne Michaels, and often features gender-bending humor.

Television critic David Bianculli previews the CBS comedy-drama, about a local TV news station. He says the well-cast pilot has a purposeful feel reminiscent of Hill Street Blues.

Steve O'Donnell, the head writer for Late Night with David Letterman, writes many of the program's top ten lists. A new book compiles the best of these, called, simply, The Late Night with David Letterman Book of Top Ten Lists.

Rather than spend minutes setting up elaborate jokes, Wright comedian delivers one-liners in a deadpan, stoic manner. He has a new HBO comedy special coming up, and also appears in movies. Wright won an Academy Award for the short the Appointments of Dennis Jennings.

Since 1987, Maya has been performing his one-man show at clubs and performance spaces, mostly around New York. His style of observational humor focuses on his suburbia, current events, and gay politics. Maya came out publicly this year; he believes its important to emphasize his identity in his act to boost representation of gay people in popular culture.

In anticipation of the new season, networks have been trying to one-up with each other with pilots of new shows. TV critic David Bianculli says NBC's Parenthood is the best of the bunch, while Hull High can't compete.

Davidson's act earned him a spot on the sketch comedy show In Living Color, starring the Wayans brothers. He grew up in Washington, DC and began performing at a topless club. Davidson's comedy special will soon air on the Showtime network.

Actor, writer, and Monthy Python member John Cleese and therapist Robin Skynner. The pair have co-written a new book, "Families and How To Survive Them."

Comedian Dave Thomas. Thomas first hit it big as a member of the "SCTV" comedy series. He currently has a summer-replacement comedy variety show on CBS, called "The Dave Thomas Comedy Show."